Exploring art events in and around NYC

December 2009

12/31/2009

The artist formerly known as Dalek, James Marshall, currently has a series of dazzling and dizzying abstract paintings on view at Jonathan LeVine. His second solo show with the gallery, And There Was War in Heaven, features recent canvases of "brightly hued flat colors painted in
crisply defined planes of space, forming shapes and optical
perspectives clearly separated by impeccably clean, sharp, and precise
geometric line-work" (from the exhibit's press release). The carefully crafted, fragmented, repetitive works resemble vivid, psychedelic patterns.

The North Carolina-based artist studied anthropology and sociology before receiving his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995. His vibrant, energetic, trippy work is reminiscent of Takashi Murakami's, whom Marshall assisted in 2001. Marshall's earlier work, under the pseudonym Dalek (a reference to cult, sci-fi series Dr. Who) "merged street art, cartoons, Japanese pop and the energy of the urban punk scene," (from the artist's website). Space Monkey, a character he created and incorporated into his early works, served as an "alter ego" for Marshall, "a visual manifestation of his feelings, as well as his love for the absurdity of human interactions." The cute and crazed Space Monkey bears a striking resemblance to Murakami's Mr DOB character.

Marshall decided to part ways with his Dalek moniker and Space Monkey in 2007 for his first show at Jonathan LeVine. The separation was "really cathartic to me, and I think it really helped open a lot of things for me visually... By not having that iconic centerpiece to build a painting around, all the elements started springing up and happening a little more naturally, and things started growing in a different way, which was liberating," the artist says on his website. "His new body of work revels in a profusion and hyper-abundance of color and planes of space: the familiar lines and iconic Space Monkey that defined his earlier work are only a starting point for a new series of meditations on the push and pull of forces he sees in contemporary life." Marshall's complex, layered, kaleidoscopic paintings are definitely worth checking out. Learn more at Jonathanlevinegallery.com and see Marshall's website at dalekart.com. Through January 9, 2010.

12/30/2009

Mitchell-Innes & Nash currently has on view Ångstrœm, a series of dream-like and fascinating paintings by German artist Norbert Schwontkowski. The paintings are "[P]oetic, atmospheric, and loosely narrative, Schwontkowski's new paintings depict the artist and his world in a way that is at once cartoonish and melancholy..." (from the exhibit's press release). "Many of the paintings allude to electrical charges: another reference to the artistic process, as 'spark' is a metaphor for creation..." The show's title is inspired by physicist Anders Jonas Ångström, who had "a unit of measure for light waves" named after him. According to the press release, "Angstroem" can also be interpreted as a play on the two German words "angst" and "flow [electricity]".

Schwontkowski's paintings are surreal and cryptic. They seem to simultaneously want to tell a story and remain mysterious. As the artist revealed to Brooklyn Rail in a recent interview, "most of my paintings come from a dream, which is never fixed. It is
more like the feeling when you are traveling on a train without a
destination, or in the early morning when you just wake, when you are
still in between a dream and the thoughts of what you have to do for
the day—like what sort of shirt and pants you will wear and who you’ll
see for lunch, and so on. Essentially, it comes from a moment when
there is not so much control of your thoughts or what you could
actually see. Your eyes are open and you think you can see whatever’s
in front of you, but in fact there is something from this corner of
your vision, which somehow melts together and becomes something you
can’t identify whatsoever. I think this is the way poetry works, by
allowing things to come together and bloom and become something else,
something fresh and alive."

Schwontkowski worked in short, experimental, animated films, photography and writing before he reached 30 and then "started to concentrate" on painting. As he told Brooklyn Rail, "[T]hen when I was between 35
and 40 I had the feeling that suddenly I was a painter for the first
time." Schwontkowski personally hand mixes pigments and paints for his works, and incorporates various materials (like copper, gold and marble dust) to create different textures and finishes on his canvases. The artist uses a palette primarily "of pale earth tones, blacks and grays creat[ing] a muted, subdued atmosphere..."

Schwontkowski was born and raised in Bremen, Germany in 1949. He teaches painting at the Hochschule für Bildende Künst in Hamburg. Learn more at Mitchell-Innes & Nash and read Brooklyn Rail's full interview with the artist at Brooklynrail.org. Through January 9, 2010.

12/29/2009

Artist Martin Wong (1946-1999) moved from the west coast to NYC in 1978. Living in and painting the then rough-and-tumble Lower East Side, Wong's work is a testament to an era - "a document of that time in the 1980's and 1990's, capturing a moment in the history of the city marked by vacant lots, graffiti and a burgeoning club culture," (from the exhibit's press release). PPOW Gallery currently has on view Martin Wong: Everything Must Go, a selection of work culled from the artist's estate, showcasing his favorite and trademark subjects, including "crumbling tenements, vacant lots, prisoners (with those burning eyes), closed gates (and open legs), downtown poets, hustlers, and if we are lucky, perhaps an off-duty Fireman."

Wong's paintings of imperfect scenes and people possess a documentarian and cinema verite look, yet also a feel of poetry and genuine affection (and sometimes lust) for his subject matter. Wong received a degree in ceramics from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California but decided to change direction and taught himself to paint at 30-years-old. His paintings show a bit a naivete and folksiness to them which I think make them feel more raw and personal. His depictions of tattooed inmates, destroyed or decaying buildings, and the night sky twinkling above tenement rooftops document a downtown neighborhood's history slowly yet surely being replaced by posh bars, condos and luxury hotels. Included in the exhibit is a series of rare photo collages the artist created to use as studies for paintings that also serve as "a rare document of the long walks the artist would take in and around the Lower East Side." It seems ironic that Wong took such care to shoot and piece together these collages to build scenes of rubble and destruction.

Wong's inclusion of astrology and hands spelling out words using American Sign Language in his works give them an individual and quirky stamp/signature, much like the artist's personal style which included a long, thin mustache and cowboy hats. The recent reinterpretation of Wong's look along with many of today's young artists documenting their "grungy" LES/East Village/Williamsburg neighborhoods and friends, confirm Wong's status as a true visionary. Learn more at ppowgallery.com and read Martin Wong's obituary from the August 18, 1999 New York Timeshere. Through January 30, 2010.

12/28/2009

A series of Brian Calvin's new, large-scale paintings featuring cute, young, hipster girls drinking Modelo beer, looking vacant, and hanging out on Californian beaches or in front of graphic prints, are currently on view at Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea. The portraits featured in HEAD are composed in Calvin's signature, rough, flat, cartoonish, style in rich, vibrant hues. The 40-year-old, Los Angeles-based Calvin, who was born in Viscalia, California and received his MFA at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago in 1994, creates portraits that resemble a west coast, younger, trendier Alex Katz.

Speaking of Katz, the 82-year-old artist currently has a show at Adam Baumgold Gallery on East 66th Street.Alex Katz, Paintings from the 50's - 80's features well-know paintings by Katz such as Swimmer #3 from 1973, Self Portrait (Study) from 1982, as well as a few featuring his wife and muse Ada, including Ada in a Pillbox Hat (1961) in which Mrs. Katz is posed a la Jackie Kennedy. A few smaller paintings used as studies for larger, finished works are also on view. I particularly liked two of these studies featuring Katz's son Vincent - Walk (1970) and Man (Vincent) in Canoe (1974). Though studies, these two works still convey soft, dreamlike, summery scenes. Also on view are a few landscapes featuring flowers and trees which I liked for their joyfulness and also because I'm not familiar with this side of Katz's work (I typically associate Katz with portraits). The kindly gentleman at the Baumgold Gallery politely requested that I not take pictures at the exhibit so I unfortunately don't have any to share here - which is more reason for you to check out the show for yourself.

12/24/2009

12/23/2009

Along with being a rock legend and New York City icon, Lou Reed is also a talented photographer. Who knew? Having previously published two books with Edition 7L/Steidl featuring his photography, Lou Reed's New York and Emotion in Action, Reed collaborated with the imprint again and just released Romanticism, a series of "stunning black and white and color images of landscapes and architectural motifs, shot on the artist's travels to Scotland, Denmark, Big Sur and elsewhere," (from the exhibit's press release). To coincide with the release of the new title, Steven Kasher is exhibiting in its back gallery approximately a dozen photos featured in the book.

"The photographs are taken with a specially altered digital camera, which gives them an aura of strangeness, or otherworldliness. They have a timeless quality but are simultaneously very modern, like Reed himself." As the press release aptly states, Reed's "name has become synonymous with the New York avant-garde,
and with the city itself. With his photography, Reed has been moving out of New York, while his
first
collection featured portraits of the city, this new one focuses on more pastoral settings." I think it's great Reed is shooting other countries and locales and isn't pigeon-holing himself to NYC, but I admit I do find it a little odd and funny imagining the very urban Reed in "pastoral settings" in his "shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather."

The title of his book and the exhibit, Romanticism, refers to "the 18thand 19th century art movement
that sought a
return to the emotion, beauty, and unknowability of the natural as a counterpoint to industrial era’s
emphasis
on technological development and the pursuit of rational knowledge. Reed’s images recall this impulse:
they
focus on the aesthetic and the sublime..." Reed's camera captures some haunting and breathtaking idyllic scenes, dreamy respites from the chaotic city he is so associated with. Learn more at Stevenkasher.com. Check out Reed's website at Loureed.com and have a peek inside the book Romanticism at Steidlville.com. Through January 9, 2010.

12/22/2009

Born in Dresden, Germany in 1932, Gerhard Richter's career in painting spans almost 50 years. Early on the artist decided "that paintings should focus on the image rather than the
reference, the visual rather than the statement. He wanted to find a
new way of painting that would not be constricting," (from the artist's website). "Unlike American artists Richter wasn't interested in the purity of art.
Idealism had disillusioned him from an early age. Instead he painted
images without glory; images that rendered the ridiculous, ordinary;
the tragic, ordinary; the beautiful, ordinary. Throughout his career
Richter has shrunk from giving a psychological insight into his art,
leaving his admirers and critics guessing and at times confused.
According to him, his work forms from structures and ideas that
surround him, nothing more profound than that."

His current show, Abstract Paintings, 2009, at Marian Goodman's Upper East Side gallery is "a major representation of works made by the artist from 2005 to the present, including an important new cycle of paintings titled Sindbad, 2008 as well as individual paintings presenting medium to large format abstractions, and a new group of large scale near-monochrome paintings whose underlying chromatic structures are layered by translucent veils of white paint," (from the exhibit's press release).

The show is truly incredible and offers several abstracts in various styles. Upon entering, you are met by a handful of massive white paintings that feature subtle hints of color peeking out from under tiny cracks in the white surface. While these paintings may initially appear bland from a distance, when you get closer to them you sort of want to scratch away at them to see what else they reveal underneath their serene and cold facades. The following rooms offer up a number of amazing colorful abstractions that exude mood and energy. For me, many of the canvases possess a tense almost aggressive feel to them. They sort of feel like a calm before a storm, precursors to something that's been simmering and waiting to explode. Judge for yourself with my pics below. Contrary to Richter's own description of his paintings, these works are far from "ordinary." They are truly stunning.

Learn more at Mariangoodman.com. Check out Richter's website at Gerhard-Richter.com. Through January 9, 2010 (**note Marian Goodman Gallery will be closed from Dec. 25 - Jan. 3rd).

12/21/2009

Remember those rave kids back in the 90's who wore crazy, colorful clothes, manic panic'd their hair, and dropped loads of ecstasy (I won't remind you of those awful back-packs, pacifier and whistle accessories and/or super wide-leg, baggy pants...)? Those ravers are sort of who Mustafa Maluka's solo show, A Place So Foreign, at Tilton Gallery remind me of. According to the exhibit's press release, "The faces of his transnational, racially and sexually ambiguous characters are densely painted... by building up layers of splashes and washes on the canvas surface alongside bold patterns and forms that determine the mood and overall tone of the works." The pretty, young, trendy subjects of his large-scale portraits are swathed in neon prints, adorned with green eyebrows and blue lips, and posed before eye-popping graphic backdrops. Through his psychedelically-colored canvases, Maluka is "theatrically confronting... contemporary critical theory and global politics."

The show's title, A Place So Foreign, is a reference to Maluka's "own experience as a global citizen." Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1976, the artist was raised in Amsterdam. He currently divides his time between Helsinki and New York. The colorful kids in Maluka's paintings share with the artist worldly and diverse lifestyles and are fortunate to "inhabit Plural Worlds." Learn more at Jacktiltongallery.com. Check out the artist's website at Mustafamaluka.com. Through December 24th.

12/17/2009

Margaret de Lange's photographs of her two daughters, Jannicke and Catherine, taken during their summers from 1993 through 2002, look nothing like average snapshots found in most family photo albums. (My childhood pics mainly consist of me pulling silly faces, wearing goofy outfits -remember Garanimals?- or being tortured by my older siblings...) The grainy, black-and-white images presented in Daughters at Foley Gallery show the girls frolicking outdoors during their Norwegian summers, roaming naked, getting dirty, and enjoying nature.

As the press release states, the photos "are representative of a typical Norwegian childhood during the brief but sweet summer months. However, the way in which the images are rendered, with deeply encroaching shadows and heavy grain, pushes the subject into more of a dream realm that speaks more of the meandering experience of these pre-adolescent girls and a world that is very much their own." The intimate images depict the two young, willowy, blonde daughters as carefree nature girls having fun and adventures in their very own fantasy dreamscape.

The girls' mother waited until they were both older to ask their permission to exhibit these works. As the elder daughter Jannicke states, "She has preserved random pieces of our childhood, and we treasure those moments." Lucky girls! Their mother has lovingly documented some wonderful and special moments from their youth which they'll be able to hold on to and fondly remember for years to come. Learn more at Foleygallery.com. Through January 30, 2010.

12/16/2009

I've always thought New York City is most beautiful during the holiday season (provided there isn't any icky slush mucking up my shoes and pant legs) but may have to reconsider my opinion after seeing Christopher Thomas' New York Sleeps at Steven Kasher Gallery. "After years of photographing his native Munich, Thomas turned
his camera on his adopted city, New York. The resulting exhibition of 30 large-scale cityscapes feels
both nostalgic and contemporary, offering an elusive glimpse of 19th century tranquility while
hinting at a cryptic apocalyptic ending just around the bend," (from the exhibit's press release).

Thomas' photos of quiet, empty New York streets capture the rare moments when the city is still and calm. The large, black-and-white prints are hauntingly beautiful and mysterious. A picture of Lower East Side institution, Katz's Delicatessen, presumably taken in the wee hours when there isn't a soul around or even a single car on the roads, is a sight to behold and down-right eerie. Other images of heavily-trafficked New York landmarks deserted like Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station, and the Brooklyn Bridge are lovely and serene, albeit slightly creepy. They make you wonder, "Where the f*ck is everybody?" and bring to mind the campy, last-man-alive flick from 1971, The Omega Man.

Check out Christopher Thomas: New York Sleeps and see a side of New York City few of us ever have the opportunity of experiencing for ourselves. Learn more at Stevenkasher.com. Through January 9, 2010.